Cheaper small cars have become even more endangered in the United States, with Chevrolet Tracks and Buick Enco being the latest to finish production. GM’s smallest and most affordable crossover SUV models will be discontinued by the end of the year, multiple sources reported this week.
GM was characteristically silent about the report.
“Chevy will continue to offer five distinct SUVs in the United States and Canada,” spokeswoman Kelly Van Mel said in an email. “Other than that, we can’t confirm future product plans at this time.”
Assuming that full-size Tahoe and Suburban are not included in this distinction, Chevy currently sells Trax, Trailblazer, Equinox, Blazer and Traverse, with electric versions of the Equinox and Blazer planned for 2023.
Whatever the official adoption of GM, Trax and Encore were on life support. GM has been isolated in both models in recent years, limiting trim and feature offers. Last year, the top premier trim level in the 2021 Chevrolet Tracks was scrapped, leaving only the LS and LT trims. The premium seating package has been discontinued this year, according to GM authorities. Similarly, the 2022 Buick Encore has been downgraded to the preferred trim only. No vehicle was equipped with standard automatic emergency braking; Most major car manufacturers, including GM, have agreed to equip at least 95% of new cars sold with crash-reducing and life-saving features by September this year.
2022 Buick Encore
GM was one of the first automakers to offer subcompact crossovers. With the launch of Encore in 2013 and Trax in 2015, both models have become obsolete and have been replaced by newer, larger and more competitive models. Reviving an old nameplate, GM launched the Chevy Trailblazer in 2021, and Buick did not hide his intentions with the Encore GX, which was launched the same year. The new models were objectively superior and thematically better in most metrics. And the starting price wasn’t that far.
Early in the market still pays dividends to GM, which sold 42,590 Trax in 2021 and 20,072 Encore in the United States last year. Larger models should absorb that volume without increasing the price, but perhaps without dealer incentives.
The 2022 Chevy Trax LS with front wheel drive is priced at 21,400; A similarly equipped 2022 Trailblazer costs $ 21,800, excluding destination. Buick reverses pricing scheme, essentially encourages buying GX: 2022 Buick Encore Preferred starts at 24,600; 2022 Encore GX Favorite Price 24,400
With the end of the Chevy Spark after 2022, it marks the end of being able to buy a new Chevy for less than 20,000.